Category: New products
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Virtual Reality Used to Study Food Addictions
A faculty member at University of Houston in Texas is using virtual reality technology to study food cravings as a form of addiction. Tracey Ledoux, assistant professor of health and human performance, bases her research on studies showing food stimulates the same reward and motivation centers of the brain that respond to addictive drugs. In…
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Neuromuscular Drug Gets Fast-Track, Orphan Approval
Repligen Corp. in Waltham, Massachusetts says its drug candidate for spinal muscular atrophy received fast-track and orphan drug status from U.S. and European regulators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted fast-track status to Repligen’s RG3039, while the European Medicines Agency gave the drug its orphan medicinal product designation. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is…
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Process Devised to Verify Safety of Assisted Driving Systems
Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have developed ways to verify the safety of driver assistance technologies, such as adaptive cruise control and automatic braking. Faculty member Andre Platzer and doctoral students Sarah Loos and Ligia Nistor will present their findings at the International Symposium on Formal Methods, on 22 June at the…
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Researchers Find New Properties in an Old Material
Researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg have devised a way to measure and manipulate the internal structure of Nafion, a common polymer, to expand the material’s applications. The research chemists’ results are published in the 19 June issue of the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required). Nafion was developed in the 1960s by DuPont, and…
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Engineers Calculate, Write Software for Solar Fluctuations
A faculty-student engineering team at University of California, San Diego has developed a computer model to calculate fluctuations in the solar power grid caused by changes in cloud cover. The team of professor Jan Kleissl and Ph.D. student Matthew Lave have also written software to help power grid managers predict fluctuations in the solar grid…
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Simple, Safer Process Developed to Synthesize Graphene
Scientists at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb say they have discovered a simple method for producing high yields of graphene, a carbon nanostructure with advanced capabilities, including as a potential platform for the next generation of integrated circuits. The NIU team’s findings appear online in the Journal of Materials Chemistry (free subscription required). Graphene is…
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Grant Funds Research on Dairy Production Efficiency
Michigan State University in East Lansing has received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the genetics of cattle breeding to develop cows that can produce more milk on less feed. The grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture is funded under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.…
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University Start Up Commercializes Feeding Tube Research
A start up company founded by a University of Utah medical researcher is developing a feeding tube for patients that reduces the risks and casualties from misplacement. The company, Veritract Inc. in Salt Lake City, was started by John Fang, clinical director of the university’s gastroenterology division. The privately held Veritract is developing what they…
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Grad Students Develop Cord Blood Stem Cell Collection Device
A group of biomedical engineering graduate students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland have developed a device that improves the collection of stem cells from a newborn’s umbilical cord and placenta. The students have also filed a provisional patent application for the device and formed a company to further develop and commercialize the technology.…
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Computer Model Tests for Car Noise During Design Stage
A researcher at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden has built a computer simulation model to help car designers locate potential sources of unwanted car noise. Matti Rantatalo (pictured right) developed the model as part of his doctoral studies at Luleå, in the university’s Center for Automotive System Technologies and Testing (CASTT), and with help…